Outcome 5 (Document Work MLA) – Document their work using appropriate conventions (MLA)

Word count: 198

Since freshman year of high school, I have struggled to add variety to my signal phrases for quotes and paraphrases. I found myself using the same one over and over and it was repetitive. Since taking the ENG 110 course I have improved in that area of my writing. My first essay I didn’t use many signal phrases for my quotes and left them out altogether in some places which made my quotes seem like an island in my writing. By the second essay I used signal phrases for all my quotes and paraphrases. I used signal phrases such as “_____ mentions” and “the author claims” and integrated the quote as if it was part of a sentence. I used the signal phrases from the book They Say, I Say and I found it much easier to use the proper signal phrases. You can see this in the sample of a body paragraph from my first and second essays. 

Sample from 1st essay:

Signal phrases in Essay 1 – Google Docs

Essay 2 signal phrases – Google Docs (signal phrases are highlighted in yellow)

I have been doing parenthetical citations, works cited pages, and quotations since the beginning of high school so they are something I am very familiar with so the essays and reading responses have been a good way to practice and keep my skills sharp.